This entry collects the passages in which the texts state that the Buddha is old or eighty. In Majjhima Nikāya 12 of the Southern tradition the Buddha tells Sāriputta outside the city of Vesālī that he is eighty; in the Saṃyutta Nikāya of the Southern tradition Ānanda, massaging the Buddha, says that his skin is slack, his body stoops forward and his senses are failing. Several discourses in the Chinese Ekottarika Āgama record the Buddha saying he is “past eighty” or “nearly eighty” and entrusting the teaching to Mahākassapa and Ānanda; the Saṅghabhedavastu of the Chinese Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya also records the Buddha saying at the village of Poluo that he is old and frail and no longer has the strength to teach. Taishō Canon
Pali Canon
More sources (2)
Different Accounts
Majjhima Nikāya 12 of the Southern tradition records the Buddha saying he is eighty, and in the same discourse the attendant Nāgasamāla stands behind him fanning him; yet the later commentaries of the Southern tradition say Nāgasamāla was an attendant of the first twenty years after the Awakening, and the two accounts stand side by side.
More differences between accounts (2)
The wording differs: one discourse in the Chinese Ekottarika Āgama has “past eighty”, another “already close to eighty”, and another “nearly eighty-odd”.
The Chinese Ekottarika Āgama also has Sāriputta saying “from birth until now nearly eighty”, but that is Sāriputta's own age and is not counted as the Buddha's; the passage in which Sāriputta reports a god saying the Buddha is “nearly eighty” is in the entry on Sāriputta's passing in Year 45 after the Awakening.
Dating
Year uncertain. Reckoned literally at eighty, the time of these remarks falls between Year 44 after the Awakening (the Buddha aged seventy-eight) and Year 45 (aged seventy-nine to eighty); remarks of the kind “nearly eighty” could be as early as Year 44. The age is stated in the texts, but there is no sequence to follow between the discourses, so only this range can be derived by converting from the age.
Related Entries
- Year
- Places
- People
- Discourses
Research Notes: Reliability, Dating and Sources
- How Reliability Is Assessed
The episode “MN 12” is recorded only in the Pali canon of the Southern tradition. Recorded by one school. Within it, “SN 48.41” is recorded only in the Pali canon of the Southern tradition; the “Poluo village passage of the Saṅghabhedavastu” only in the Chinese Saṅghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.
- Dating Evidence and Precision
Stated in the canonical text (the text itself gives the time); converted from the Buddha's age (reckoned from the Buddha's age). Time precision: year uncertain.
Sources
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 12:1.2
- Pali Canon巴利 MN 12:64.1
- Pali Canon巴利 SN 48.41:1.2–2.4
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.637a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.746a–b
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.787c–789a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.640a
- 大正藏大正藏 T02 no.125 p.713a
- 大正藏大正藏 T24 no.1450 p.166c
- 巴利註解書巴利註釋 MN-a，§162